HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Thompson, J L Articles by Martin, J L Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Thompson, J L Articles by Martin, J L

Estimated condom failure and frequency of condom use among gay men.

J L Thompson, T J Yager and J L Martin

School of Public Health, Division of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY.

OBJECTIVES. Condoms are designed to bar transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but they sometimes fail. This paper explores the effect of experience with condoms on condom failure among gay men. METHODS. Risk of condom failure (breakage or slippage) on a single occasion is estimated for four sexual acts reported over 12 months by a sample of gay New York City men (n = 741). The estimation procedure assumes that each episode in which a condom is used is an independent event. Evidence is offered to support this assumption. RESULTS. Risk of condom failure in a single episode was fairly high, particularly in anal intercourse, for men who had engaged in each act only a few times in the previous year. It declined rapidly with experience (e.g., to below 1% for receptive anal intercourse after about 10 episodes in the previous year). Condoms failed less often in oral than anal sex, but estimated risk of failure also decreased with experience. CONCLUSIONS. Gay men should be especially cautious the first few times they use a condom; after moderate experience, however, they may expect a low risk of condom failure.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Calzavara, A. N. Burchell, R. S. Remis, C. Major, P. Corey, T. Myers, M. Millson, and E. Wallace Delayed Application of Condoms Is a Risk Factor for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection among Homosexual and Bisexual Men Am. J. Epidemiol., February 1, 2003; 157(3): 210 - 217. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. H. Katz and J. L. Gerberding Postexposure Treatment of People Exposed to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus through Sexual Contact or Injection-Drug Use N. Engl. J. Med., April 10, 1997; 336(15): 1097 - 1100. [Full Text]

				S. D. Pinkerton and P. R. Abramson Implications of Increased Infectivity in Early-Stage HIV Infection: Application of a Bernoulli-Process Model of HIV Transmission Eval Rev, October 1, 1996; 20(5): 516 - 540. [Abstract] [PDF]